The Proclaimer

Watch and Pray

After making it plain that the dead in Christ will not be at a disadvantage when Christ returns (1 Thess. 4:13-18), Paul turns his attention to the question of when Christ will return.  In pointing out that we just do not know when that will be, he uses the same imagery that Jesus used by stating, “that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2; cf. Matt. 24:42-44).  He then gives the warning:

“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that this Day should overtake you as a thief.  You are all sons of light and sons of the day.  We are not of the night nor of darkness.  Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be             sober” (I Thess. 5:4-6).

The verbs “watch” and “be sober” are all present tense and express enduring conditions.  In other words, we are to “keep on watching” and “keep on being sober.”  The fact is, a constant vigil is to be kept so that we are prepared for the day of the Lord.  It is easy for us to slip into complacency so that when that Day comes we are not prepared.  How can this be avoided?

On the night of Christ’s betrayal, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray (Matt. 26:36-46).  He took with him three of his apostles, Peter, James and John for support in this most difficult time before His crucifixion.  He asked them to wait close by and to watch with Him (v. 38).  When he returned after a short time, he found them sleeping instead of watching and said disappointedly, "What, could ye not watch with me one hour?" (v. 40) The advice Jesus gave them that night has profound implications for us today. "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (v. 41).  Unfortunately, it would not be long before they were asleep again.

Jesus recognized the faithfulness of His apostles and their desire to support and serve Him.  And yet they had fallen asleep.  This He attributes to the weakness of the flesh in that it was late, they had just been through extremely stressful times and as soon as they got still, they fell asleep.  While this was understandable, they had still failed Him.  They had not watched as He had asked.  The sad part is that in spite of Christ’s warning, He returned a second and third time to find them asleep once again (v. 43, 45).  If only they had followed the command of the Lord to “watch and pray.”

Prayer is an integral part of the Christian’s vigil.  We need the strength that prayer brings that we might overcome the weakness of the flesh, for no matter how willing the spirit is, that fleshly weakness is still there.  To be sure, Satan will attack us where we are most vulnerable.  For this reason, Paul tells the Thessalonians, “be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation” (1 Thess. 5:8). 

The point in all of this is that we do not have to be involved in some heinous crime to not be prepared when the Lord returns.  We need only to be asleep spiritually to be unprepared.  Spiritual complacency and apathy is all that’s needed for Satan to win our souls.  Have you gone to sleep spiritually?  Or are you watching and praying for the Lord’s return?

                                                                         -- Clark Dugger

The Proclaimer